Love is a strange thing
by life in over drive
Summary: There is a huge difference between liking someone and loving someone.But there is a very small one between love and hate.check it out please.Casey
1. Chapter 1

**Hey um this is new all new to me...(writing and stuff)so..tell if me ya like it or not.Feedback is awesome...**

Chapter1: Of mice and men

It was just a normal Friday evening in the MacDonald - Venturi household and everyone was seated at the dining table causing chaos as usual.

"Derek!" Casey bursted.

"What?" Derek questioned his mouth full of green beans.

"Stop tickling my leg!" she glared.

Derek lifted an eyebrow, "Whhat??"

"Calm down you two….Can we just have one normal quiet dinner?" George sighed and Nora shook her head.

"Casey be rational why would I ever touch you hairy legs?" Derek swallowed, "Plus I'm not even sitting near you this time."

Casey's eyes bulged out of their sockets… "Oh my god!" She stood up and started to dance around, "There's an animal in my pants!!" She shook her legs repeatedly and when she saw that the "thing" was not going to reveal its self she decided to do the most reasonable thing (in her mind)possible: she dropped her pants. Everyone sat in shock. Nora gasped. Lizzie's eyes were wide in embarrassment. Edwin's eyes were covered by George's left hand and his right was over his own eyes. And Derek well…lets just say the food he was chewing found its way back on his plate.

The silence was broken by an innocent voice, "Casey's naked!"

"No only half." Lizzie grumbled.

Casey was still preoccupied by her pants she had forgotten about everyone else. She lifted one of the legs of her jeans and out came a small rodent.

"OH MY FREAKIN GOD!!!" she yelled hysterically, "There was a rat in my pants!!"

"Squeakers!" Edwin removed his father's hand and stood to retrieve his furry little friend.

"Ew! Ew! Ew! Ewwww!" Casey whined.

"Casey please get a hold of your self.And put on your pants!" Nora raised her voice to her distressed teenager. Casey did as she was told and glared at Edwin secretly planning revenge.

"Sorry about that.." Edwin felt her evil gaze, "I guess he got out of his cage…I'm really sorry I just got him last week he's just getting used to the new environment.."

Casey rolled her eyes and sat back down at the table, "Yeah and his environment just happened to be my pants."

"Well that was an interesting distraction but can we please just continue dinner quietly?" George moaned.

"A very amusing distraction." Derek added.

Casey cursed at his remark and Derek smirked he could piss her off with just one sentence.

* * *

After dinner everyone had separated and Casey was sitting in her bed sulking. Her day had just gone from bad to worse. It all started this morning when she had gotten to school, Max had told her had to speak to her and she was happy and joyful until she found out why he wanted to talk. It was THE talk. The talk every love struck girlfriend wants to avoid .He decided that he didn't feel the same anymore that he wanted to try new things and some other crap she decided to block out of her mind. Then she felt like complaining to her best friend Emily who sadly too busy with her new beau Marshal [some new guy I made up… and had no time to listen to Casey's troubles. Then Casey went to go vent to her trusted councilor, Paul, but sadly he had stayed home today sick with the flu. And last but not least the little incident at dinner. How could she act so dumb? Tottally embarrassing herself in front of the whole family… Showing the world her whitie tighties. 

Casey turned to lye on her stomach and put her pillow against her face she let out a small scream and sighed.

"Why me?" she grumbled. Suddenly there was a knock on her door and she sat up rubbing her eyes dry of the tears that were about to fall, "If it's George, Nora, Lizzie, Edwin or Marti. leave me alone!"

"You left me out..once again." Derek's voice came from the other side of the door.

"And Derek!" Cassie stood up and leaned against the exit.

"Let me in."

"No."

"Why?"

"Why should I?"

"Touché." Derek said in defeat and Casey could hear his foot steps leaving the doorway. She cracked the door open to see if he really left and he did. She sighed and slumped on the floor. She figured he came to tease her about the events earlier and didn't feel like dealing with him. Looking down at her pink carpet, she thought some more about the events...She slapped herself in the face.

"Come on Casey get a hold of your self!" She desperately tried to avoid the tears she knew were going to come sooner or later. She preferred later. She stood up and made her way to the bathroom.

She began to brush her teeth. While she was brushing she studied her self in the mirror. What was wrong with her? What would make Max break up with her? She poked her cheeks and pulled down her eyelids. Was she ugly? She tried to figure out what had gone wrong. Her efforts were futile. As she was poking and probing her face, Derek walked in and shut the door. she shoved her aside and began to brush his teeth also with out glancing in her direction.

"Hey! I was Here first." Casey shoved him back. He gave her a look of annoyance.

"Drama Queen." He muttered between brush strokes. there was a silence between them and Derek was the one to break it , "So.." he spit, "I now have another embarrassing story to tell your little boy toy Max."

"Go ahead." Casey remarked, "Its not like he's gonna care."

"Whatever." Derek shrugged, _"I wonder why..."_ He thought. And before he knew it Casey had finished rinsing and spitting and walked out.

* * *

Derek sat in his bed, his stereo booming and his mind idle. It was 9:00pm, on any other Friday night he'd be chatting up a storm with Kendra at the local bakery or the park where ever she felt like hanging out. But this night he was alone they had broken up once again yesterday and she hadn't called him since. He feared that this time the break up was for good but reasoning took over and he figured she was just waiting for him to call her.

_"Should I?"_ He rubbed his chin. His hand reached for the receiver and finally gave in to his urge to call her.

While dialing her number he still questioned his decision. He wasn't the type to call after a messy break up. Derek was always the one getting the calls not making them. He swallowed his pride and pressed the 'Talk' button.

Ringing…silence…more ringing…silence…he started feeling anxious. What if she didn't pick up? What if she was avoiding him? What if…the ringing stopped and a voice answered. He smiled , _"There is a God."_

"Kendra?" Derek asked hopefully.

"No. This is her mother, Kendra isn't here right now. Want to leave her a message?"

"No thanks. I'll again later. Good night." Derek hung up the phone and let out a groan. Now what was he going to do? He was bored and restless. Derek began to think of thigs to preoccupy him: _"Comics? No. TV? Overrated. Videogames? Boring…"_everything he came up he came up for another reason to not do it.

"Casey…" He grinned when a marvelous idea struck him. He quickly stood up, rushed out and walked into Edwin's room.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The morning after...

_Casey found her self in a dark room. Unable to see or speak, she felt the wall for an exit._

_Then a voice called out to her, "Casey..."_

_"Casey I need you..."_

_Casey started to panic and ran as fast as she could forward. She struk a wall and lost her balance. She was about to hit the floor when a hand grabbed her wrist. Casey was pulled up on her feet and into a person's arms. Her hands moved up along the figure's chest, Casey noticed it was male and he happened to be tall. She struggled to see his face but to no avail. Suddenly a foreign light came in between the two and the figure's face was lit._

_"Derek?" she mouthed silently._

_It was like he could read her thoughts and he put his index finger upon her lips, "Shh," he began, "Casey there is something you must know..."_

_"I ...SQUEAK!"_

_Casey's eyebrows twitched in confusion._

_He opened his mouth once more, "SQUEAK! SQUEAK! SQUEAK!" all that came from his voice was a series of squeaks...Casey was beginning to feel uncomfortable in this situation until suddenly..._

She awoke. Something was tickling her nose.

"That little..."

* * *

Meanwhile Derek was up and about in the kitchen, trying to decide which he'd rather eat, waffles or eggs? He decided he'd eat both. Derek was after all, a growing young man. He placed the waffles in the toaster, then reached up and rummaged in the cabinets for a pot. Once he found one, he put water in it. Next he placed it on the stove and set the temperature on Hi. Once he was done with that Derek grabbed a few eggs from the fridge, placed them in the pot and leaned upon the countertop. While waiting he became lost in thought and his fingers unconsciously began to tap.

Suddenly there was the sound of a door slamming up stairs and two petite feet storming down the steps, He grinned, "Three…Two…One."

"DEREK!!!!" Casey marched into the kitchen armed with her pillow. She swung at his head and he ducked.

"You missed."

"Well then stay still so I can hit you!" She screamed. He shook his head.

"You're so violent." He added.

"And you are so immature." She moved a step closer to him.

"Look who's talking…" He moved a step back, "Trying to start a pillow fight in the kitchen…"

"ARGH!" She lunged forward and grabbed onto him. He lost his stability and they both fell with a thud. Derek of course took the full force of the fall and Casey sat on top of his waist, her hands pushing the pillow into his face.

"Where the hell did you get that stupid ass idea to put a rat in my freaking bed!?!" She yelled pressing harder into the pillow. Her effort to suffocate him was halted as Derek thrusted his hips upward and with one fluid motion he was able to grab onto her shoulders and flip her underneath his body.

"Where the hell did you get that stupid ass idea that you could win a fight against me?" He huffed.

"Get off!"

"No."

"I hate you." She barked and wriggled underneath him.

"The feeling's mutual." He snarled, "You have no sense of humor."

"I do too." She struggled to move her arms but they were tightly held under his strong hands.

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not"

"Do too!!!" She stated angrily and tried to strike his back with her knee.

Derek leaned down so that their faces were inches apart and whispered in her ear, "_Do not_"

His hot breath against her skin made her spine tingle and her whole body shivered involuntarily. Derek noticed this and lifted his head to look into her eyes. They were filled with anger and embarrassment.

Casey bit her lip, "What?"

"I uh…" he began but was cut of by the sound of overflowing water and the sizzle of the stove, "Shit!" he jumped off Casey, raised the pot from the stove and placed it in the sink.

"God, thanks a lot klutzilla!" he frowned, "You're gonna clean this up."

"Uh...I don't think so." She stood and brushed off dust from her pajamas, "It's just water, do it yourself."

"It's your fault this happened." Derek snapped.

"No its yours." She picked up her pillow and began to walk out the kitchen.

"And where the hell do _you_ think your going?"

"To change."

"To go where?"

"Geeze you're so fucking nosey." She replied and soon she was gone from the kitchen.

Derek was left to clean up his mess alone.

* * *

Casey sighed pleasurably; the sensation of warm water hitting her shoulders pleased her. She lathered her hair with shampoo and the sweet scent of strawberries filled flooded her senses. This was the time she enjoyed most, being alone and in the shower. She was naked and free of stress. Casey let her thoughts wander and she began to think about her life.

She thought about how much she'd changed and how much had gone on in the two years she and her family been living here in the Venturi household. Lizzie had become the captain of her soccer team. Marti learned how to read. Edwin was growing up to be very much like his older brother.

She shuddered, _"Derek…"_

Casey frowned. He knew exactly how to push her buttons. He knew what annoyed her and what didn't. It seemed like he could just read her thoughts and with one action he could send her emotions into a whirlwind of anger and frustration. And when he wasn't busy physically tormenting her, thoughts of him flooded her mind. This was a war she definitely wasn't winning.

Casey shut off the shower and stepped out onto the carpet. She grabbed a towel, wrapped it around her body and with one last glance at the mirror she was out the door.

* * *

Derek was about to enter his room when he heard the bathroom door open and Casey walk out. She turned and headed to her room; she hadn't seen him in the hall way. Derek stared after her. His eyes studied her form; they traveled up and down her figure until she finally reached her room and shut the door.

Derek stood there for a moment his hand on the doorknob and his eyes gazed at Casey's door, "Damn she has a nice ass."

he sighed and opened his door.

He walked in and sat on his bed. Edwin was at mall, Lizzie at soccer practice, Marti at a play date and George and Nora shopping. Another Saturday he should be spending with Kendra but wasn't. He put his head in his hands and began to think. Boredom wasn't a thing he liked to deal with.

"Wonder what Casey's gonna do today," he began then stopped, "What the hell am I thinking?" he shook his head. He wondered why he was so interested in Casey suddenly. He wondered why the hell he stared at her ass. He wondered why she shook when he whispered in her ear. He scowled, clearly he was going insane. He needed something to preoccupy himself with. He had too much time on his hands, he needed to do something that would keep him busy and keep him from thinking…Thinking was a bad thing, a very bad thing. Cause when he thought, he thought of things, very bad things, very bad kinky things.

He needed to leave the house. Immediately. He put on his shoes, stood up and walked out the door.

"Case, I'm leaving!" he called while walking down the steps.

"Whatever!" Casey replied from the confinement of her room.

Derek grabbed his coat and strolled out the house.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:A New Challenge

Derek stood out side the front entrance of Sam' house. He knocked three times and the door opened.

"Hey, Sam!" Derek lifted his right hand and they both hi-fived.

"Hey Derek, What'cha doing here?" Sam moved aside and Derek walked in.

"Just came to see if ya wanted to hang." Derek wandered into the living room, he sat on the couch and Sam followed suit.

"Well, I've got to go to a doctor's appointment at twelve, so that gives us a half hour."

"Aw man." Derek sighed, "I was hoping we could play some street hockey or something."

"Sorry dude." Sam shrugged.

"Well are we still on for tonite?" Derek asked, remembering that he and Sam planned a sleep over at his house.

"Hell yeah!" Sam hooted. Tonight was a Die hard marathon and there was no way in hell he was going to miss it.

Sam's mother strolled into the living room, "Hello Derek." She smiled, "Sam its time to leave."

"Hi." Derek and Sam stood from the couch.

"Well looks like I'm heading out." Sam turned to Derek .

"Alrighty then." They shook hands and Sam led Derek out the door.

"Do you want a ride home?" Sam asked. Derek's house was only a few blocks away but he questioned anyways just to be polite.

"Nah I'll walk." Derek replied.

* * *

Casey had been reading a book, when Derek walked in the house. He stepped into the kitchen and came out with a granola bar. 

"What 'cha reading?" Derek took a bite of his bar and sat in his recliner.

""See you later" by Christopher Pike." Casey responded.

"Probably a romance novel." Derek assumed.

"It sorta is and it sorta isn't…" Casey began, "It's more like a …"she thought for a moment, "It's hard to explain."

"What's it about?" Derek asked. He found himself wanting to know what kinds of books she read.

"Why do you want to know?" She asked, slightly bothered by his sudden interest.

He cocked his head to the side, "I don't know really…Boredom maybe."

She was somewhat disappointed by his answer but didn't know why, "Well then go be bored some where else."

He took a momentary look at her face then glanced at the back of her book he read , "Mark has just fallen in love for the first time. Her name is Becky and unfortunately for Mark, she already has a boyfriend…" He took another bite of his granola bar, "And you're telling me it's not a romance?"

"You have to read it to understand." She quipped.

"I don't think I'd want to read it."

"I don't think you could."

Derek lifted an eyebrow, "Oh really?"

"Well there is a slight chance you could but even if you did you wouldn't get it. It would take a smarter person to understand."

"Is that a challenge?" Derek couldn't help but grin.

"Maybe." She lifted an eyebrow.

"What do I get if I win?"

"What do you want?" she coaxed.

He felt his stomach tighten. She had asked just a simple question but she made it sound so alluring, "Well…there are so many things I want…" he continued, "You'll just have to find out when I win."

"And if I win?" she questioned.

"Tell me what you want." Derek swallowed the last bit of granola.

"You'll just have to find out when I win." She imitated. There was a silence and they stared at each other for a moment. Derek opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by the ringing of the phone.

"I'll get it," He stood and lifted it from its charger, "Hello?"

He turned to Casey, _"It's Max," _he whispered.

"Tell him I'm dead." She replied. He gave her a look of amusement; she was picking up on his habit.

"Casey's not here right now. Uh-huh. Yeah. Yeah. I'll be sure to tell her." He hung up the phone, "Max wants his jacket back."

"Figures." She rolled her eyes. Derek laughed; he finally knew what she had meant last night in the bathroom, when she had said that Max wouldn't care.

"What?" She glared at him. Was he teasing her? She knew this was too good to be true. To have a normal conversation with Derek… She scoffed, only in her dreams.

Derek could only gawk at her. Her facial expressions changed by the second, first anger, then hilarity. What a bipolar human being. He tried to think of an offensive remark but couldn't, "So your having trouble with the boyfriend?"

"That is none of your business." She remarked, and then threw her novel at him.

He easily caught it and said, "I'll be done with it by Tuesday."

"You know that only gives you three days." She stood and stretched.

"I know."

She smiled, "That confident huh?"

Derek just smirked in response.

"Well it's been lovely but, I've got some studying to do." She headed towards the stairs.

"And I've got some napping to do." He took her place on the couch.

* * *

"We're home!" George said cheerfully as he and Nora walked through the doorway. Edwin and Marti followed suit, with Lizzie trailing behind. 

Lizzie, Edwin and Marti all simultaneously plopped on the couch.

"How was you're day?" Casey chirped, bouncing down the staircase. There was a silence, "Well don't all answer at once."

Lizzie groaned, "Soccer practice sucked. The coach had us running drills the whole time. My legs feel like they're gonna fall off."

"Okay…" Casey turned to Edwin, "What about yours?"

"Well, the movie sucked and my date was boring. She hardly spoke, all she did was twirl her hair and stare into space."

"Dating the same kinda girls Derek dates, eh?" Casey scoffed.

"What about the girls I date?" Derek walked leisurely down the stairs.

"Nothing, Just that they're dumb," Casey replied.

Derek smirked, "Girls are easier to deal with when they don't think."

"You disgust me."

"And?"

"Ugh." Casey strutted away flushed.

Derek just shrugged, "What did I do?" there was a silence, "Well you guys bore me…Bye." Derek said and left Lizzie, Edwin and Marti sitting on the couch confused.

"Isn't anybody gonna ask me how my day went?" Marti demanded.

XXXX.

hey guys thanks for the reviews..they are what keeps me updating!oh yeah and i didn't make up the book "see you later."..its a really awesome book and i recommend it to everyone who likes to read.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Search and rescue

It was about 6:30 pm and all through the house no one was stirring not even a mouse, when all of a sudden a sound appeared, a yell so shrill it could bring a grown man into fear.

Who could it be? The one that made such a sound? Of course Derek knew who it could have been. But as he found, Casey was not the one; it was Edwin.

"What?" Derek walked into his younger brother's bedroom.

"Where is Squeakers?" Edwin seemed worried, "You promised you'd put him back after you were done with him."

Derek put his hand on his forehead. He had forgotten all about the little creature.

"Casey had it last," He said with a shrug.

And with that heard Edwin yelled once again, "CASEY!!"

"What is it?" Casey walked in.

"Where's squeakers?"

"Who?"

"His pet rat." Derek supplied.

"How should I know?" Casey shook her head.

"Derek said you had it last."

Casey turned to glare at Derek, "Only because he stuck it under my sheets," she then turned back to face Edwin; "after I woke up I just jumped out of bed. I don't know what happened to your pet. He's probably crawling around the house somewhere."

"Oh maaan!" Edwin groaned, "I need to find squeakers!"

"I'm sure he's gonna show up sooner or later." Casey said assuringly.

"What if he's hurt? What if…" Edwin moaned, "Oh maaan."

Casey sighed. She was really going to regret what she was about to say, "I'll help you find that darn thing."

"His name is squeakers." Edwin breathed heavily, "And thanks."

"Okay then, my work here is done. I'll just leave you two to searching and rescuing or whatever it is you guys are gonna do," Derek was about to strut his stuff out the door when suddenly a hand grabbed onto his shoulder.

"Where do you think your going?" Casey gave him a fierce look, "You're gonna help us find squeakers."

Derek sighed, "Fine."

* * *

Both Casey and Derek plopped on the sofa, "Its been an hour and we still haven't found the damn rat." Derek whined. Casey sighed in response.

Edwin came bouncing down the steps: the small rodent held carefully in his hands, "Marti found him!"

"That's great!" Casey sat up; she had been leaning on Derek's shoulder too tired to hold her own head up.

"Now that you've found your pet. I need a favor." Derek stood up and put his arm around Edwin's shoulders, "If you would kindly follow me into my office."

* * *

"You want me to read what?" Edwin asked his nose scrunched up in confusion, "why do you want me to read some romance novel?"

Derek had the urge to say that the book was not a romance novel but he didn't know for sure it wasn't so he kept the comment to himself, "Yeah read it by Tuesday and tell me what happens."

Edwin was about to say that he would indeed read the book when suddenly Casey busted through the door. Lizzie followed suit; she had been eaves dropping on the conversation and when the time was right she motioned to Casey to burst through the door. Edwin sighed in relief he really did not feel like reading that thing

"Ha I knew it!" Casey pointed an accusing finger at Derek, "I knew you'd be too lazy to actually read the book your self. The bets off. I win."

"Wait, wait." Derek sighed, "Fine you caught me who cares? The bet is not off. I'm still have until Tuesday to read it…and I will."

"I need proof."

Derek thought for a moment, "Edwin will be my proof. He'll watch me read it."

"No Lizzie will." Casey replied.

"No!" Lizzie yelped, "First you make me eavesdrop on him and now you want me to spend time with him?! No way." She walked out flushed.

"Uh." Both Casey and Derek stare at Edwin, "Same here." He quickly flees after Lizzie.

There is a silence between the two, "What now?" Derek asks.

"Well…" Casey gets interrupted when the front door bell rings.

""I'll get it!" " both Casey and Derek rush down the stairs but George beats them.

"Hello Sam."

"Hey Mister Venturi." Sam greets and George lets him walk in.

"Dinner is gonna be ready in a few minutes." George concluded and strolled into the kitchen.

"Hey Derek, hey Casey." Sam turned to the two step-siblings.

"Hey Sam." Derek gave Casey a glare, "Aren't you supposed to be studying or something?"

She glared back and they held eye contact for a few minutes until she caved in, "fine whatever, I need to shower anyways."

Derek smirked then turned back to Sam, "Come upstairs I downloaded the new White Stripes CD; it is off the hook."

"Sweet."

* * *

Dinner was normal; both Casey and Derek reeked havoc on one another. Not caring whether Sam was watching or not.

After dinner was over Derek sat in his recliner while Sam and Casey both sat on the couch.

"What exactly are you doing here?" Derek asked.

"sitting." Casey replied and grabbed the remote off of the small table in the middle of the living room, "I'm about to watch the die hard marathon."

Derek's jaw dropped and Sam smiled, "No way!"

"Yes way." And both Casey and Sam grinned.

"I had no idea you liked die hard." Sam said delighted.

"I had no idea you even watched anything other than soap operas." Derek groaned.

"Well there are many things you guys don't know about me." Casey smirked.

Derek heaved a sigh. What other things did not know about her? He shook his head; he didn't want to find out. Or did he?

XXXX

**hey people sorry its so short and the ending sucked its just that i had writters block and such.so yeah.anyways reviews and adivce are appriciated and stuff.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: after the movie

Derek sighed. Tonight did not end how he had originally planned it to be, he turned the shower knob and water began to flow above him. Throughout every single movie Casey and Sam kept on talking and it wouldn't have annoyed him so much if they had spoke about different subjects other than,

"Dude did you see that?!" Casey would ask.

"Hell yeah!" Sam would howl

"So freaking awesome!" Casey would reply and then they'd high five. And that wasn't all; he caught a few glimpses of Sam trying moves on Casey. Derek put shampoo in his golden brown hair.

"What the heck..." He shook his head thinking more upon the subject. The moves Sam played on Case were so juvenile. First he'd try to put his arm around her, then she'd move farther away then he'd grab onto her hand and she'd brush his hand off. Derek grinned it was so obvious Casey was not into him anymore. He found himself relived at that fact.

* * *

"You wanna hang out sometime?" Sam asked casually.

"I'll think about it" Casey responded. She and Sam were standing in the entrance of Derek's room.

"Cool." Sam nodded, walked inside and shut the door behind him.

Casey sighed. It felt weird, having Sam suddenly have interest in her again. She continued to stand in her door way lost in thought. She still thought he was cute; it was just that she and Max had just broken up yesterday. Casey wasn't the type to just go around and date another person after being in a long relationship. And wasn't she was supposed to be in mourning? She blinked…

"Holy crap." She smiled, she had forgotten all about max... she was already over max and she didn't even have to cry or complain. Her happiness was disrupted by a hand waving in her face.

"Hello?"

"Huh?" she gulped. Derek was standing right in front of her, naked. Well only half he did have a towel on.

"uh." Derek began but had forgotten was he was going to say when he noticed Casey staring at his bare chest.

He smirked, "You like what you see?"

"EW, No!" Casey blushed.

Hey gave her an unbelieving look, "okay then…I just need you to do a simple favor for me. Okay. Hopefully it won't be too much for you to handle."

"What?"

"Move outta my way." He shoved her aside, and opened the door.

"Ow." She held onto her shoulder, "that hurt."

"Night." He proceeded inside and shut the door after him.

"What a jerk."

* * *

Derek's lamp shone brightly above him as he read the book casey had given him.

He was on the third chapter. He smiled, " Okay its about a dude who has heart problem and he designs video games and likes a chick who works in a video game store. There I'm done."

Sam gave him a disapproving look from atop a blow up mattress on the floor, "You have to read the whole book Derek. She's going to ask you how it ends."

"Well the I'll just read the ending and—"

"She's most likely going to ask you what the point of the story is." Sam added.

"Gawd," Derek moaned, "There is no way I'm going get out of this one am I?"

"I'm afraid not."

Derek slid his hand through his hair, "Well, I'm going to continue to read, you can go to sleep now if you want."

"I already was." Sam mumbled from underneath his sheets.

XXXX

**Sorry its so short just that I have writers block and such..so yeah…**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

_Cough. Cough. All he could do was cough and choke. Wheeze. Water was flooding his throat, blinding his vision. He was drowning. His hands slapped the water's surface as he tried to lift his head for air. Desperately he tried calling for help but to no avail. He was able to see a dock a few feet ahead of him, if only he could reach it, just grab onto safety._

_Suddenly a dark figure appeared. It stood on the dock and stared at him. He blinked furiously to clear his vision._

"_Casey?" was all he managed to whisper before his head went below the suface. Darkness surrounded him, his thoughts clouded with the image of her face._

Derek's eyes opened and he wiped his forehead. It was all just a dream. He flicked off the sweat from his hand and sat up. He turned his head to look at his alarm clock, 8:45 am.

He sighed there was no way he'd go to sleep after the nightmare he had. He lifted himself from his bed. He tiptoed out of his room trying not to wake Sam. Once he was in the hallway he silently made his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth and what not.

Derek was gargling his mouthwash when he noticed something. He lifted the bottle and studied it closely.

"_I could have sworn it was green yesterday," _he thought to himself while holding the bottle containing a dark liquid. His eyes widened as he finally realized what this meant.

"Casey…"

* * *

Casey was sitting on the couch, writing in her notebook silently when her moment of peace was cut short. Derek stood before her.

"Why…you're up early." She stated with mock shock.

"What the hell is up with this, Casey?" Derek bared his teeth at her.

"Pfth…" was Casey's reply as she began to laugh.

"Yeah real, hilarious." Derek said sarcastically. His teeth were a bright shade of blue. Apparently Casey had snuck some blue food coloring into his mouthwash during the night.

"Aw man..." Casey held onto her sides, "My ribs hurt."

"Good." Derek seethed, "what the heck am I going to do about this?" He pointed at his teeth, "Sam and I were supposed to go to the mall today! How am I going to pick up chicks with blue teeth?"

"Be creative." She smirked. That'll show him. You don't mess with a MacDonald.

"Oh..." he pointed a finger at her, "I am so gonna get you back for this."

"Bring it on. That was payback for what you did to me yesterday." Casey said referring to when he had stuck the rat in her bed.

"That wasn't as bad as this!" he screeched.

He waited a moment to see if she'd reply, when she didn't he gave her a look of distain and walked off.

* * *

Casey sighed. Why did he have to make her feel this way? Putting her on the spot and then making her feel guilty. Maybe she did go a little overboard. Wait a minute! Wasn't she supposed to be mad at him? He was the one that started it. And when has he ever told her he was sorry? When? Never. Yeah he's the one who's wrong, and she's right.

Casey sighed, but two wrongs don't make a right, "Damn My conscience." She mumbled and made her way up the stairs.

* * *

Casey found her self in front of Derek's door wondering how to say sorry with out actually apologizing. She sighed for the fifth time. Nothing was coming to mind.

"_I am so going to regret this..." _She slowly turned the knob and peeked inside, to her surprise the only living thing in Derek's room was Sam sleeping peacefully on the floor.

She was about to shut the door when she heard a familiar voice, "Looking for me."

Casey froze. The small hairs on her neck stood and she slowly turned her head to see Derek standing rather menacingly behind her.

Casey gulped, rotated her body and faced him, "Um…I…"

"You what?" he asked rather annoyed. He had been in the bathroom brushing his teeth vigorously when he heard her come up the stairs. He had watched her little show of confusion.

Too nervous to speak she just stared at his mouth. Derek managed to dull the blue and now his teeth were a very light shade of green. She couldn't stop the smile that was now forming on her face.

"What? You came just to mock me some more?" Derek asked angrily .Casey was thinning his patience.

"…" All she could do was laugh. Derek gave her a look of utter confusion but began to laugh also .he just couldn't help himself. Just watching her try to hold in her giggles made him want to just squeeze them out of her.

It seemed like forever before Casey had finally stopped her laughter and they looked each other in the eyes.

"It was a pretty good joke." Derek admitted trying to regain his breath.

"Really?"

"You're learning quickly Grass hopper." Derek patted her shoulder, "but don't tell anyone I said so."

"Okay." Casey smiled. She found herself actually enjoying this moment with Derek. This was turning out to be one weird weekend. She wondered if he'd be the same on Monday at school.

* * *

The rest of the day went as usual. Derek was able to remove all of the color from his teeth and go to the mall, Casey studied, and every one else did their own thing. It was now 10:00 pm, Sam already left home, dinner was over, everyone was in bed and Derek was on his computer studying the screen.

The dream he had last night was plaguing his mind. He looked up "meanings of dreams" in every search engine he could find but not one website satisfied him.

He shut down his computer and stood from his rolling chair. He stretched a little and then let himself fall on his bed. He tried to figure out what his dream meant but couldn't. He ended up thinking about Emily. She was into that kinda stuff…about dreams and their hidden meanings.

He made sure he'd ask her about it at school.


End file.
